


Unstoppable

by praesaepe



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-29
Updated: 2013-09-29
Packaged: 2017-12-27 22:24:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/984314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/praesaepe/pseuds/praesaepe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James T. Kirk was an unshakable constant.<br/>Khan wasted no time in disproving that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unstoppable

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this post](http://dammitmccoy.tumblr.com/post/61383792026/oh-no)

James T. Kirk was unshakable. He was a constant in the universe; an immovable power that headed the  _Enterprise_ with a burning passion never before seen in a starship captain. He had a firm hold on his crew. They respected him and his authority and his missions always went impeccably. You couldn't touch James Kirk. At least, that's what Spock thought. Khan wasted no time in disproving that.

Spock heard Scotty's voice through the comm and he knew exactly what it meant. Scotty didn't even need to say Kirk's name; the crack in his tone was enough. Spock ran.

He saw Kirk there, on the floor of the chamber, fumbling for the button. Spock couldn't contain the little shake of his head, the refusal to believe, when he saw him. Jim was unshakable; he  _knew_ that. To the depths of his soul, he had believed it. Him, Spock, who was more logical and less nonsensical than any human on this ship, had believed. Jim was not a regular man; he could not simply fall like one.

"Open it," Spock said curtly. He looked over at Scotty, and Scotty gave him a sad look.

"The decontamination process is not complete; you'd flood the whole compartment." Spock looked back at Kirk. "The door's locked, sir." Spock knelt down as Jim turned, gasping, and fumbled for the button to close the door to the warp core chamber.

"How's our ship?" That one word, "our," shot through Spock.

"Out of danger," he said, nodding slightly.

"Good." It came out rasping, his voice ruined by damage from the radiation.

"You saved the crew."

"You used what he wanted against him. That's a nice move," Jim said, not acknowledging Spock's words.

"It is what you would have done," Spock said. He meant it.

"This... this is what you would've done. It's only logical," Jim said. Spock could not and would not deny it. He had apparently done it before, if what his older counterpart had said had been true. Kirk let out a sharp gasp, and emotion dribbled into his voice when he spoke again.

"I'm scared, Spock. Help me not be." he pleaded quietly. "How do you choose not to feel?" Spock shook his head. He couldn't help. There was no way to help. He spoke the truth.

"I do not know." His voice cracked as he spoke. "Right now I am failing." Jim took a moment to absorb this and looked up at Spock again, his eyes broken and defeated.

"I want you to know why I couldn't let you die. Why I went back for you," Jim whispered. Reasons began to filter into Spock's head. His mind put the one most obvious up front, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. He chose the next option instead.

"Because you are my friend." A tear slid down his cheek and fell, and Spock nearly reached up to touch the track. He hadn't cried since he was a child.

He had lost control.

Jim's pained chokes brought his focus back to the man on the other side of the glass door. Jim gave him a look that Spock read easily; yes, Jim was Spock's friend. But the real reason Jim had done it was etched onto his face and in his eyes as he haltingly brought his hand up to the glass. It was as though he was attempting to bridge the gap and close the space between them, but the glass was in between them.

Spock's hand shifted into the ta'al unconsciously, and he pressed it against where Jim's hand was. He wished he could send his feelings to Jim, transmute them from the glass, but the separation was too much and he was too isolated.

Jim's fingers slid into the ta'al, and Spock let out a breath. Jim looked as though he was pressing as hard as he could against the glass, and he looked Spock straight in the eye. Blue eyes met brown, and there was a moment of silent intensity. Jim's lips tugged into a small smile, but he let out another small gasp, and the light left his eyes. They swam out of focus, unseeing as his hand slid from the glass.

James T. Kirk, the unstoppable man, was dead.


End file.
